BodyPump puns + That song in the VS Holiday 2011 commercial

Since the marathon in October, I've enjoyed getting back to the grind with weight training. My gym offers LesMills BodyPump, which is a group class that focuses on high-repetition exercises. It's one hour long and targets pretty much every muscle group, so it works well with my crazy schedule. 


A fun aspect of the class is that each track is set to an upbeat, modern, top-40 type song. The new release features Sean Kingston, Shinedown, and a bunch of covers. 

Check out this description of this latest release... it's pretty hilarious and pun-ny. A few highlights:
"Be prepared to have the kitchen sink thrown at your triceps." 
"Lunges set off a Grenade in your legs."
"You weren't Born this Way, but you are on the right track, baby!"


I digress. If BodyPump is anything, it's uber-cheesy. 


You do the talking: What new songs are on your workout playlist?  

I'm fairly obsessed with M83's "Midnight City" which is featured in this year's Victoria's Secret Holiday commercials. You know, this one:

The song is slow, but has a steady beat and driving bridge. It's great for a longer distance run.


Random fact: A portion of the VS 2010 Holiday commercials were shot at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Umm... artistic?

source

When I was younger and quite naive, I had an honest-to-goodness goal of becoming a Victoria's Secret model. I have always thought the models exuded such confidence and femininity. MSNBC just ran a story about several of the models who were in the fashion show yesterday, who are still on the catwalk after becoming mothers. It's an interesting read!


Thanks for reading tonight. See ya again soon!

Healthified Pizza + Encino Man Musings

How's everyone doing?


I loved reading all of your comments from my Challenge Nation race recap! Anne, Alison, Paige, Steph, & Sarah - holla :-) One thing that's stinky about using Blogger is that there isn't a way to reply to each comment. I am working on switching over to a different blogging format altogether - a format that allows replies to comments - so stay tuned!


We are having some funky weather in the Milwaukee area tonight. Check out this weird, spotlight-like cloud: 

Creepy, right? 


Anyhow, tonight I was in the mood for pizza. So I made a healthified version!

Toaster oven pizza: whole wheat tortilla with sauce, green pepper, spinach, scallions, green olives and good ol' aged parmesan. Delicious and (for the most part) nutritious!

And covered with the strong stuff. Can't forget that. Recipe to follow!


Tonight, Zak and I are relaxing with a classic movie: Encino Man. Remember this one?

source

What's not to love about Pauly Shore and Brendan Fraser, early 90s pop culture references and of course - those ridiculous hairstyles? I remember loving this movie in 5th grade, and laughing over the quotes with my friends at Girl Scout meetings... especially "Aw-oooo! Bud-dy." 

source

They even ended the movie with that same reference. Awesome.


Have you seen Encino Man? If not, you probably think I'm cray-cray right now :-) If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and watch this YouTube of the prom scene, right now. Trust me.


You Do the Talking: What's your favorite 90s movie? Encino Man is probably my favorite, but there are so many other classics out there... PCU, Clueless, The Baby-Sitters Club. Man, my mind was nearly blown when the Baby-Sitters Club movie came out! I just couldn't believe it! 
Oh, and we can't forget Buffy the Vampire Slayer. That one was epic, and without it we would have never had the Sarah Michelle Gellar TV series!

Pikes Peak Challenge: A little humor, and those famous donuts

Training for the Pikes Peak Challenge has been a journey.

Along the way, by reading up on the Barr Trail and hiking '14er' mountains like Pikes Peak, I've collected great advice. Some of it has been really humorous as well.

From the Pikes Peak homepage (yep, the mountain has a website), regarding safety on the trail: For your own safety, it's best not to feed wild life. Mammals may have fleas that carry diseases like the bubonic plague. Also, ground squirrels may accidentally bite the hand that feeds them.

I definitely don't want to get the bubonic plague next weekend, so I guess I'll skip handing out snacks to critters along the way.

From Celebrazio, via a suggested pack list for hiking a '14er': Small daypack: 2000-3000 cu in. minimum for summit attempt. Fanny pack also a consideration.

I would love to see my sister's reaction if I brought a fanny pack on this hike.

And thanks to the Colorado Guy, I am now mentally prepared for the very end of the hike:

I was warned about the 16 Golden Stairs, but as painful and steep as they were, by then I had some adrenaline going because I knew the hike was almost over. By the way, I counted the switchbacks to the top and I it wasn't 16 ... it was more like 27 or 28 staircases. ;)

And finally, though this will be a strenuous 13+ mile hike covering 7,400 vertical feet, there is a shop at the summit house that sells donuts. This is America, after all.

(photo credit)

Apparently they are quite famous. I found a donut blog that recaps an experience with them, where they were served by EMTs.

(photo credit)

The aforementioned Colorado Guy loves them. And this food blogger claims they were the best donuts she's ever had, ever.

I'm thinking that trying one of these donuts is a must. I even found a coupon for a free one.

Hilarious. I printed 4 copies so that I can share with my team. We'll need to replace those calories torched by the hike somehow, right?

Question: What food item would you most want waiting for you at the top once you summit a mountain? Donuts are pretty great, however I'd love to find cupcakes or perhaps smoothies as well.